


Enlistment

by Sunevial



Category: Discord Murder Party (Podcast)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 18:28:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17350331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunevial/pseuds/Sunevial
Summary: The story of the Lieutenant.





	Enlistment

The day was serene, birdsong filling the air and sunlight peeking behind the fluffy clouds overhead, bathing the forest in a soft golden light. Trees stretched their limbs into a delicate canopy of branches and deep green leaves, providing just enough shade to keep the undergrowth along the forest floor cool and damp. It was peaceful, a memory of when the world was younger and when things were more wild, more untouched, more free to simply exist without the interference of mortal hands that burned what never should have been lit and dug where creatures of light never should have ventured.

Priestess sighed, smoothing her flower patterned skirt down and pulling her shawl more tightly around her shoulders. It didn’t replace what she had lost. Nothing could ever make up for the land that had been stolen from her, ripped out of her very soul and carved up to produce what, wheat and grass for that growing filthy city. That was lost, and she was now here, tied to the magic of her only true friend left in the world. No longer the goddess that had seen countless summers turn from to winter and back again, no longer watching the world turn and guarding its most precious resource, but just…just a priestess.

 _Her_ Priestess. 

At least she still had that.

Stepping delicately between the decomposing leaves and fallen twigs, Priestess wandered through the little wooded grove, listening to the birdsongs become more erratic, chirps and clicks coming in patterns not natural to any species. She frowned a touch, clicking her tongue and continuing on. Bugs grew quiet, then exceedingly loud in turn, calling out in warning that something was not quite right. The air began to warble and twist, reality itself seemingly strained under the pressure of _something_ , though what that something was certainly didn’t have a specific source at the moment. It wasn’t long before she found the larger animal life, lowly mice all the way up to a pair of humans, clawing at their heads and shrieking in pain. 

Well. At least the rumors of this forest driving creatures to madness were well founded.

Cautiously, she weaved her way through the sea of babbling beings, skirting around trees and low bushes as reality continued to warp and tremble under the weight of a thick and overwhelming presence. Purple energy crackled in the air around her, unsuccessfully pulling and twisting at what was left of her physical form. She took her fingers and ran them through the distortion, feeling the magic slip across her palm like water droplets. It was not the magic of the natural realms, magics of life or death or the elements. No, this was something based in the nothing beyond the scope of reality and time, magic that never was and never would be of this world or any world. It was like Her magic, the Void made manifest.

She followed the magics, pushing past a cluster of undergrowth and into a small clearing, framed on all sides by warped trees and dead grass. There were…eyes. Hundreds if not thousands of eyes in shapes that existed and just barely existed and couldn’t possibly exist, separated by a deep purple darkness that tugged at the mind and ripped at sanity. Though she couldn’t possibly hope to count them all, every eye she could see was shut tight to the world, a faint sickly bruising around the dull gray lids. All but two, two unblinking eyes the color of the winter sky, a cold and unforgiving blue. 

Creeping ever closer, Priestess peered into the distortion, her own eyes finally able to get a better grasp on the purple nothing. Wavering and cautiously swirling in shades of violet and lavender, the nothing slowly wrapped itself ever closer, ever tighter, ever quicker around the small pieces of dirt and rock on the ground. The magic tugged at the corners of her mind, not threatening to overwhelm her and render her no more useful than those pitiful mortals, goodness no. But it was enough to remind her that this was an incredibly powerful, and potentially dangerous, presence before her.

Before she could so much as blink, the large warping vanished and was replaced by…a man, or at least something that resembled a man. He was lanky, skin and bone under his incredibly simple shirt and pants, with long brown hair and a smattering of facial hair. One arm wrapped around his chest, he pushed up onto his newly formed legs, only for them to buckle under the strain. Without even so much as a grunt, he collapsed back onto the earth. Even from her vantage point, she could see his eyes, same ice blue as the ones above his head, open wide in confusion. 

Priestess felt her lips curl into a smile.

So, the creature of the nothing was too weak to even stand.

This could prove…a bit of fun.

“I must say, even if that body of yours is just a shell, that’s quite the handsome look you’ve got there, dearest,” she said, stepping out from behind the tree and into the clearing proper. “It really does compliment all those eyes floating around you.”

The man jolted, turning with an equal amount of speed and care towards the sound, the two eyes over his head whipping to face her as well. “Y-you…you c-can…” he stammered, his facial muscles not moving with the sound. His voice was hollow, echoing in her eardrums with hesitation and uncertainty.

Priestess let out a small laugh, running her fingers along the warped trees. “My my, you’re not used to talking out loud, are you? Or perhaps you’re not used to talking much at all?” she asked, finding a good sized rock. With proper posture and delicate movements, she took a seat, crossing her legs with practiced politeness. “That’s quite alright, sweetheart, take your time. Watch my mouth and how it moves, and then gather your words and try again.”

Confusion and fear still written in his face, he took one of his hands and lifted it to his jaw. A slight warping fell over his face and his jaw slowly cracked from side to side. “Y-You…can converse with me beyond…screams…” he slowly said, the words tumbling out of his mouth this time. “Yet your appearance is that of the…broken ones.”

“Ah, yes, the mortals, those humans,” she replied, giving a slight smile. Knowing so little of this world, barely able to manipulate a shell, and yet still unafraid to speak and learn. It was almost cute how innocent this one was, even if she had a sneaking suspicion he was likely older than time itself. “I would give them little of your attention, since I am assuming you are something far greater than those lowly creatures. Their minds are weak and shatter at the first sign of power they cannot hope to understand. It’s really nothing against you.”

“Then…why do you take their form?”

“Why did you?” she asked, tilting her head ever so slightly.

The man faltered, looking down at the shell he bore, before once again training his eyes on her. “The…human that bore this form was the first creature I saw when I…fell into this world,” he replied. “Considering how many have broken after seeing what I truly am, I thought it better to, as you described, form a shell.”

“It is no different for me,” Priestess said, tapping her fingers idly on her knee. “Humans are such fragile creatures, and while I would much prefer to stalk the corners of this world as I truly am, this will have to do in its place.” 

He gave her an uncertain look. “Then…what are you?”

“I have been many things throughout my life, gone by many names and held many titles, seen so many wondrous things and done nearly as many,” she answered, giving a flippant hand gesture and a content smile. “You, however, may call me Priestess if you so desire.”

“P-Priestess…” he shakily repeated, once again attempting to stand. He got a touch further this time, managing to stand at his full height before catching himself on a tree and slowly sinking back to the ground. Perseverance, perhaps stubbornness, or at the very least some semblance of self-preservation. “That name would imply you serve a deity, would it not?”

“Indeed it would, sweetheart. I serve My Lady, a powerful god who strings together life and death into a tapestry of stories to tell.” Priestess smiled a touch more, cracking her eyes just wide enough to show the yellow underneath. “It is through her graces I am here today, creature of the nothing. Or no…no, that was rude of me. My apologies, dear sir, I don’t think I ever got your name.” 

With facial movements that in the loosest sense mimicked actual confusion, the man cast his gaze to the closed eyes above, then back to her. “I…do not have one, I don’t think. It was…never a necessity.” 

“Well that’s no good, I can’t simply keep calling you creature of the nothing, now can I? It doesn’t flow off the tongue well and certainly sounds rude to my ears,” Priestess replied, casting her gaze around the clearing in a similar fashion. “But I suppose that’s no problem of mine. Now, if you don’t mind me asking, dearest, since you so boldly asked this of me, what exactly are you? What brings you to this cheery little corner of the world I call home?”

“I…am…unsure of the first myself,” he said, the two eyes above his head running their gazes over her entire form. His mouth moved, but the words were barely his own, echoing from other places deep beyond the understandings of time. “I am…of the Void, I know as much. For eons I…existed, and the Void was quiet. I and the others were Remembered, sometimes in name, sometimes in deed. Then…the strings were cut, the Void was shattered, and we were Forgotten. Some fled. Many vanished. Most fell. I…thought I could stay longer. That proved…an ill made decision.”

So Her Lady had indeed been correct when she said the Void had been sundered from memory.

“Ah, yes, right, I know what you are,” Priestess said, letting her shawl fall ever so slightly, exposing her light green blouse and tasteful bodice. If he was going to look at her, at least she could give something for those eyes to appreciate. Then again…going off what she knew of Her Lady, attraction of any sort might be just as foreign a concept to him as speaking. “I believe you are what we would call a Voidling, one of many different beings who actively depend on other things knowing you exist. I never did understand how all of you survived for as long as you did. Awareness is such a fickle thing to be tied to, you know.”

There was a long silence. “Yes…indeed it is.” 

Priestess clapped her hands together, the gloves around her hands muffling the sharp sound. “Well, voidling, then let me be the first to welcome you to Earth,” she said, cracking a large smile. “I wouldn’t be too worried about finding a way to make yourself known. With the number of things you’ve already broken, I wouldn’t be surprised if dozens of humans already know about the strange creature in the forest who breaks the minds of mortals.”

With a small smile, she leaned back against one of the warped trees. Well, her curiosity about the mystery of the mad forest had certainly been sated. Not a rogue nature spirit or ancient magics that she could potentially claim for her own, but a voidling on death’s doorstep, barely strong enough to make and control a shell he likely never thought to use before. Interesting, perhaps, and certainly a rare sight to see. But at the end of the day, even if this one had an interesting story, he was outside of her concern.

Handsome shell of a man or not.

“But memories fade. Beings forget what they used to know, who they used to know,” he finally replied, looking around with his two open eyes. “Deeds fade, names are lost, and existence falls away until there is truly nothing.” 

“Such is the nature of all things, my dear.” Priestess fiddled with a bit of her skirt, pushing the words he was saying out of her train of thought. They were just words. Words that may have hit close to home, but just words. “Worlds change and we must change with it. You are no different just because you come from a place that was never supposed to do that.”

“Change…” he hesitantantly repeated. 

The two of them once again fell into a comfortable silence, former god and voidling simply staring at each other with a mix of curiosity and unsureness. A light wind blew past the clearing, rustling the leaves and curling around the two of them almost curiously. As it hit the voidling’s shell, his body shuddered and a small sliver of an eyelid fell over his remaining two eyes. Though his body hardly moved at all, the disconnect between his two forms still blatantly recognizable, the shell’s eyes were filled with the same confusion as before.

Priestess slowly sat up, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly. “Is something wrong, hon?”

“I…I c-can’t see…” he whispered, his voice barely a breath in someone’s ear. “W-why can’t I see?”

“Dear, your eyes are all closed,” she replied, slowly standing and walking to his shell. Ever so delicately, she placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling just how little was really there under his shirt. He was…so fragile. “You know how to open them back up, don’t you?”

“I…I c-can’t…too t-too much.” With slow and hesitant motions, he looked at the hand on his shoulder, then up at her. “I…I d-don’t understand, Priestess.”

Opening her eyes ever so slightly, she looked deeply into his real eyes, bruised and fighting to remain open. That wasn’t confusion or panic as she had thought before. His eyes were glistening with the shadows around the corner, with the unknown in the middle of the night when everything is quiet and alone, with the call of the end to all things. 

With fear. 

With a fear she knew all too well.

“I…well…” Her normal snark stuck in the back of her throat, choking down the dozens of cold replies that popped into her head. Don’t get attached, he’s not important, he’s just…she let out a small sigh. “Focus on me, dearest. Focus on me and on getting those eyes open. Trust me, stopping now will not do you any good.” She tried to shake the thoughts away, memories of the own stillness that grabbed at her soul and threatened to drag it into the places no immortal ever truly wanted to go, memories of clinging to her only friend and wanting nothing more than just another day, memories of willinging giving up everything she had ever been and casting aside even her own name. 

All because she wanted to be alive. 

All because she didn’t want to be alone again. 

Ever so slowly, Priestess took a seat onto the soft ground. She carefully pulled the voidling closer, wrapping one arm around his back and resting her head on his shoulder. 

Some of the fear in his eyes faded, replaced by the earlier blatant confusion. “What…is the purpose of this…physical contact, Priestess?”

“It’s something more tangible for you to focus on, and some beings find touch helpful in stressful situations,” she replied, snuggling closer and feeling her own tense heartbeat slowly fall back to its normal rhythm. A well made shell, though without the warmth that comes from creatures that can produce their own body heat. They would have to work on that. “Go on, I’m right here.” 

Though clearly still not understanding the situation at hand, the voidling’s gaze fell off her and he closed his shell’s eyes, the purple nothing behind them wavering and flickering as more of the presence tugged at the corners of her mind. With an effort that could only be described as painful, the two eyes from before fluttered open to their unblinking stares, followed in quick succession by two or three more pairs. As each eye flared open, casting their gazes further and more deeply, the strange presence on her mind only grew, poking and prodding in every direction fathomable. 

Priestess let out a small sigh, letting her thoughts spin as the voidling worked. He was weak now, yes, but even in his diminished state, he could break the minds of mortals. There was no telling what powers he had possessed at his height, what he could do if enough people knew of his existence. Not to mention he was creature born and bred of the Void, one that could potentially help them navigate and even repair its severed strings. Curious about what he did not know, possessing almost no malice or ill will to her at the very least, desperate enough to take a deal. 

And…another court member would mean considerably less work for her.

Now…how to go about explaining this to Murder… 

A crash broke the silence, starling both her out of her endless wandering thoughts and the voidling from his focus. At some point, the sunlight took its warmth and light from the world, leaving them both bathed in dim twilight. Just how long had they been there, sitting and enjoying each other’s company? Apparently a lot longer than either of them cared to think about. Noticing that she had drawn the voidling somehow closer at the sudden noise, she delicately released the embrace.

“What…was that sound?” the voidling asked, his more numerous eyes now swiveling around the clearing as they searched for the sound of the noise. His gaze turning towards Priestess again, he hesitantly reached for her arm. “Could you…aid me in standing?” 

She gently pushed it back into his lap. “You can barely sit up correctly, I certainly don’t trust you on your feet yet,” she replied. “Let me handle this, dearest. I know I look rather frail, but I assure you, I am more than capable of defending myself.” 

While there was no outward protest, a sign that he knew both things were more than likely true, his face scrunched up a touch. “Priestess, if I may ask a question of you?”

“Go right ahead,” she replied, training her ears for sounds outside the boundary of the little clearing.

He paused for a second to two, seemingly to gather his thoughts. “What reason do you have for staying here?” 

“Do I necessarily need one?” she replied with a gentle smile. “You obviously needed a touch of guidance, and that’s certainly not something difficult to offer.” This time it was her time to pause. “And besides, no one should have to be alone in frightening times.”

“...I believe the correct words are…thank you?”

Her lips curled into a warm smile. “Yes, that would be it.” Her ears still focusing out on distant sounds, they finally latched onto not just the direction of whatever jolted them both out of their contemplation, but a voice to accompany it.

Unsurprisingly, the voice did not sound pleased.

“Priestess? Damn it, Priestess, I do _not_ have the time for your games right now,” a rather familiar voice screeched in the distance. “It’s fine, this is fine, she’s a big girl and probably just went off to have a little fun off on her own, she can take care of herself…oh gods, please don’t tell me you ran off and seduced another human, I cannot deal with the fallout from that again. Gods damn it, _where are you?_

“Calm down, dearest, I’m right here,” Priestess said, carrying her voice along the wind and deeper into the forest. She sighed and chuckled a little, glancing to the voidling. “No need to worry, that would be My Lady. She is…rather protective of me.”

“Should I be present when the two of you meet?” he asked, glancing to the forest. 

“Don’t you worry about a thing, sweetheart, I will talk with her. She’s quite nice once she’s calmed down,” Priestess said with a small pat on the shoulder, gracefully standing up and brushing the dust off of her outfit. “Besides, I think you might like her.”

The ever louder crashing eventually burst through the somewhat warped bushes, brambles and leaves flying haphazardly in every conceivable direction. A short woman stood there, blonde hair cropped short and long red dress hiked up to avoid the mud. Though her face was streaked with fury, it quickly dropped to a rather pleased smirk once she saw that the clearing had not one, but two individuals present. “Ah, there you are, Priestess. It would’ve been nice if you had _told me_ you were going off on one of your adventures, but you know what, it’s fine,” the woman said, shrugging her shoulder and walking ever so slowly into the clearing. “Went off and made yourself a friend, hm? He’s…a little different than the guys you tend to go after, though. Didn’t think you cared much for us ‘eldritch’ types.”

“Oh no, he’s certainly not one of my flings, my lady,” Priestess replied, curtsying a touch and gesturing to her companion. “If I am correct, this lovely shell of a man here is a voidling. I’m not exactly sure if he has a name of his own, if he does I’m not sure he knows it himself, but he certainly possesses a great deal of his own power, as you probably saw as you were walking here.” Turning to the man, Priestess gestured now to the woman in red. “And, my new friend, this is My Lady, though perhaps she is better known as the Murder God.”

The voidling didn’t vocalize a greeting, but merely nodded his head in what could be interpreted as politeness. 

“Considering there were more broken things back there than a bull in a china shop could ever hope to make, I might actually have to agree with you, Priestess,” Murder God said, stepping closer into the clearing and approaching the voidling’s shell with a dangerous look in her eyes. The two of them stared at each other for a long stretch of time, any magics flaring beyond what Priestess could ever hope to detect, but this much was clear: they could See each other for what the other really was. “So…you’re like me, then, Void Memory?” 

The voidling showed no outward signs of fear or curiosity, but all of his open eyes flared around her, examining every inch of Her own shell. “So it would seem, Named One.”

“Nice little trick you’ve got there, haven’t seen that one in eons,” the god said, glancing at Priestess. “And I see you’ve gotten a little chummy with my Priestess, it seems. She helping showing you the ropes?”

He nodded, the motion a touch awkward with his newly formed muscles. “That would be my assumption for her aid, yes.” 

“You have to understand, dear, he looked rather lonely and someone had to give him tips on how to function in this world, not to mention I’ve found I do rather enjoy having him around,” Priestess added in, leaning a touch closer to Her Lady and sending her thoughts to the god directly. _“Dear, have you ever considered expanding your court?”_

Murder God blinked at her, squinting her eyes in what honestly looked like bafflement. _“Are…are you seriously asking me to make a not a wish, but a deal like yours with a thing that’s nameless and two hits away from death?”_

 _“Two hits from death, and desperate to stay alive.”_ Priestess smirked a touch of her own. _“Think about it, dear. My land is gone and we’ve resorted to running the games in any spare town we can find. We need the Void. You need the Void. If he’s like anything you, he could be a very valuable asset in reclaiming it and repairing the strings.”_

_“I can teach you how to repair strings.”_

_“Have you seen what happens when I manipulate void magic?”_

_“...fair point.”_ She looked to the voidling, still with the same squinting eyes, then back to her old friend. _“Are you absolutely sure this is you acting in our best interest and not because you definitely have feelings for the eldritch horror?”_

Priestess cracked her eyes open just a touch. _“A god with only one follower is not much of a god, dear, and all the best ones have large courts. Because while it’s admirable you can do so much on your own, if you want to expand, things will get more complicated. I simply cannot do everything you need me to do, and you will burn yourself out if you try. You said it yourself: the Games must be run. Why not make it a little easier on us both?”_

Blinking a few times, Murder God pouted for a second, glancing back at the voidling with her eyes glowing a harsh yellow light. “So, Void Memory, I’m not going to mince words here, because let’s face it, you’re dying. Sure, you’ve got a couple eyes open here and there, but how long until that fades, hm?” she asked, stepping a touch closer to him. 

The voidling glanced to his shell, his expression perhaps akin to something like shock. “I…am unsure of that myself.” 

Murder God chuckled, running two of her eyes along the shell sitting on the ground. “I gotta say, we basically had the same idea, ducking out of the void and into the first world that we could find. It’s not a bad one, it’s really not, there’s plenty of worlds where an idea like yours could probably work. But humans are really fickle, I’ve learned. Great for running games with, not the best for remembering something with no name though,” she continued, lazily gesturing and walking in a slow circle.

The voidling was silent, shivers running up and down his spine with the realization. “Then…w-what is there to be done?”

“Well, you could go off and keep breaking minds, establish yourself as a minor deity, risk jumping into other worlds…or if you’re looking for something a little simpler, maybe we could strike a deal of sorts.” As she spoke, the god held up one of her blackened hands, ticking off her fingers with casual indifference. 

He raised one eyebrow. “A…deal?”

Priestess couldn’t help a small smile.

“It’s pretty simple, really,” Murder God said, casually summoning her otherworldly dagger into her hand and spinning it for him to see. “Even if you’re a creature of the void like me, I’m assuming from all that shaking and shuddering that you really don’t want to slip off into obscurity and die with no one remembering who you are or what you did. Am I right about that?”

“I…want to continue existing,” he slowly responded, holding up one of his own hands and inspecting it. One of his floating eyes glanced towards Priestess, then back to its neutral position. “If for no other reason than…there seems to be much I have left to learn and understand.” 

“See, that’s pretty convenient there, because I’m going to bet you have things that I want,” Murder God said, stopping her wandering and gesturing at him with her dagger. “You’re of the void. Tell me, how’s your string work?”

He considered this question for a second or two. “I know how to repair and control, bind and weave, the normal functions associated with the strings there.”

“Now, let’s say you were at full power. What is it that you can _actually_ do?” Murder God asked, nodding her head a touch as she flipped the blade over. “Are you slow, quick, strong, flexible?”

Another pause. “At my height, I can jump between locations, see across distance, strike without warning and with precision, and other things beside.” 

“Not to mention break reality and the minds that depend on it, that’s not insignificant, you know,” Priestess added, giving Her Lady a delicate rub on the shoulders.

“Hm…alright, last question,” Murder God asked, shrugging off the contact and leaning uncomfortably close the to voidling. “How do you feel about killing?”

He scrunched his eyebrows together, almost as if the mention of a ‘feeling’ baffled him more than anything else. “I do not have any preference for or against, but I am perfectly capable of such a task, if that is what you are asking,” he replied.

With a quick laugh and a pleased smirk, Murder God spun her dagger and set the blade onto her palm, balancing it without a care. “Well, voidling, seems like you could be of great use to me and to my dear Priestess here after all,” she said, throwing the dagger up into the air and catching it off handedly. “You see, I’ve been thinking of trying to reclaim the Void. As much as I enjoy this little world and running my Games, I’ll explain those later, they’re not super important right now, the fact is that I don’t have anywhere to run them. And the Games must run. So, I need the Void. And more importantly, I need someone who knows the Void like I do, someone who can…operate unseen and without getting distracted.”

Priestess inspected one of her gloves, ignoring Her Lady’s eyes in the back of her head. Now that was just uncalled for.

The voidling was silent for a long stretch of time. “You…are asking of my service?”

“Well, what I’d really want is your name, but since you don’t have one of those…” She muttered to herself for a little, her lips slowly twisting into a smile as the glow in her eyes turned from gold to deep red. “How about…your loyalty? Stay loyal to me, become one of my trusted soldiers, be my Knife in the Dark, and I’ll make sure that you’re known the world over.”

“Do I have much choice?” Every one of the voidling’s eyes were focused in on the Murder God, ice blue and devoid of emotion.

Priestess gave a small smile of her own, stepping to the voidling and laying one of her hands on his shoulder, just like she had done earlier in the day. “There’s always a choice, dearest. It’s just whether or not you’re willing to make it.”

He looked up at her with uncertainty, with confusion, with fear swimming in his eyes and written in the lines of his face, with the desperation that only comes from knowing that in reality, there was no real other choice. The voidling dropped all but two eyes away from the Murder God, meeting her gaze for the first time. Purple energy crackled around them, swirling and distorting between the two creatures of the void as they wrestled for control over one thing and one thing only: each other’s lives and powers. When he spoke, the sound echoed from everywhere and nowhere, piercing eardrums and ringing deep. 

“Then…my loyalty is yours, Murder God.” 

The change was almost instantaneous, eyes all over the clearing flaring open and casting their gazes in every direction, to look at the world and the people and see both what was real and what was beyond real. When every eye was open and darting around the clearing, a blue shimmer fell over his true form as the veil dropped to all but those who could truly See. With no more effort than a raven takes to flap its wings, he rose to his feet unaided, standing taller than Priestess had anticipated. 

The Murder God smiled, taking her dagger and holding it out for him to take. “There we go, isn’t that better?”

“It…certainly is,” he replied, taking the small weapon and turning it over in his hands. As he balanced it between his fingers and against his palm, the hilt grew to match the size of his hands, the blade growing longer and yet still the same shape that defied the three dimensional nature of this reality.

“Hm…well, now that you’re serving under me, you’re really gonna need a name, I can’t keep calling you Void Memory or voidling all of the time, not to mention you kind of need something worthy of being one of my Followers…” she said, tapping her finger against her chin a couple of times before her eyes lit up ever so slightly. “I know. Since you’re one of my soldiers, you can be my Lieutenant.”

Taking the dagger and resting it in one hand, he bowed his head rather respectfully. “Very well then, Captain,” he replied, a very slight twinkle in his eyes.

“Captain. Hm, I kind of like that,” Murder God said with a smirk, casually turning over her left shoulder and walking back into the forest. “Priestess, take care of the explanations, will you? I need to get back to planning this next game or two.”

“Certainly, dear,” Priestess called, turning back to her newly named companion. “Well, I would say that went very well, wouldn’t it? I honestly didn’t think she’d like you that much, but I certainly don’t mind having someone else around.”

The voidling, no, the Lieutenant gave her a quizzical look. “This was your plan all along, wasn’t it? To have me join Her court?”

Priestess laughed, the sound light and somewhat guilty, resting her hand on his arm. He could think what he wanted. Best if it came off this way. “You can’t blame a girl for wanting a partner, can you?”

“A…partner,” he said, rolling the words over on his tongue, testing it out on his lips.

“Well, of course, we’re Her only followers, me her trusted wolf and you her knife,” Priestess said, giving him a slight pat as she rested her head against him. “That makes us partners.”

His head tilted up towards the stars slowly twinkling above. Darkness had fallen as the three of them had talked, leaving the clearing bathed in just the light of the stars and the smallest sliver of the moon. He opened his mouth ever so slightly, then closed it, slowly laying his hand on her shoulder as he did so. “This is…correct, yes?” 

“Yes dear, you’re doing just fine,” Priestess said, the touch cold against her thin shawl, but still welcome. She gave him a soft smile, her own eyes darting between the night sky and her new coworker, ideas turning one after another over each other. 

He seemed to notice her flickering eyes, as his own turned towards her. “Is…something on your mind, Priestess?” 

“Lieutenant…have you ever thought about using wings?”


End file.
